Reignited
by Origami-Orange
Summary: Alice Shepard has been re-made but her heart has yet to be reignited...still convinced that she's no more then a machine and that the galaxy has changed entirely around her, she does her best to keep her bad-ass face on and get the job done. Only further down the path does she realise she had someone picking up the pieces all along...[GarrusXFemShep]
1. Chapter 1

**Ok, so...I posted this up a few months ago and took it down, then back up...then back down...**

**This is my first ME fanfic, I started it AGES ago and hopefully it's worth posting!**

**I want to warn people...THERE WILL BE MISTAKES! XD I'm not perfect, I will eventually get a beta reader, but until then please endure. I have read through it myself over and over, but I will have missed a few things! **

**This is a Garrus and FemShep Fanfic, with all the bad-ass characters along for the ride. I really hope you enjoy! **

**I am not the creator, just the puppet master of the ME stuffs in the fanfic.**

**REVIEWS = LOOOOOVE! 3 ^^ **

**ENJOY!**

...

Shepard wondered down to the mess hall, rubbing her eyes and yawning, stretching her arms above her head. The cabin was new to her, unsure whether she enjoyed being so separate to the rest of the crew; it wasn't what she was used to. And that large bed, you would have thought it a luxury, but it made her down time sleepless.

The hall was empty and dark; with only the light of display clocks and the med lab monitor lighting the entire area. She zombie-walked to the kitchen area reaching for the fridge and pulling it open, the jingle of bottles rattling from inside the door. The light made her eyes buzz in pain. She grabbed a bottle of water seeing nothing else, and then closing the fridge reached for the freezer, she had asked Gardner to hide something for her right in the back of the freezer.

Hargen Daaz strawberry cheesecake ice cream; her little luxury hidden from the rest of the crew, especially Miranda. Some of her other tubs had mysteriously gone missing and she knew who it was.

She grabbed a spoon from the nearest draw and wobbled over to the table slumping down in a chair, her body still not quite working with her. Her head was beating with a threatening migraine. Her eyes felt sore and tired, but for a small moment when she scooped that ice cream into her mouth, it all disappeared. She sighed and devoured the lush, creamy goodness moaning with each spoonful as it melted on her tongue, letting the spoon linger in her mouth slightly, the metal warmed in her mouth before dunking it in the tub again, the spoon gliding through the soft scoop before slipping it in her mouth.

"It's a wonder how anyone can sleep around here with you making noises like that, Shepard." A flanged voice sounded from the darkness.

Shepard opened her eyes, realizing they were closed, the spoon still in her mouth. She saw the outline of her one and only Turian friend leaning against the railing just off to the side of the tunnel that lead to the main battery, his arms crossed over his abdomen. She smiled and let the spoon slip out of her mouth, dunking it back into the tub.

"I'm just doing it to torture Miranda. Didn't mean to wake you…" She said smugly, smirking at her tub.

Garrus uncrossed his arms and made his way over to the table, sitting opposite her.

"Well, if there was any doubt you weren't real, I think you can safely say they're sated, no AI could enjoy food as much as…that." His mandibles flickered as her clasped his hands together on the table in front of him.

She smiled at his friendly tone and scooped another spoonful into her mouth closing her eyes and letting of a slightly sigh before leaving the spoon in the tub and pushing it away from her slightly.

"Hm, maybe I run on ice cream. I guess we'll never know." She smirked but that was a slight pang of sadness in her tone.

Garrus shook his head. "No, Shepard, I've always known you're the real deal. I doubt they could program enough crazy into a mech to make it do the things you do."

Shepard let a soft throaty laugh echo in her mouth, her shoulders bouncing slightly as she did.

"Thanks, I think." She smirked and sat back in her chair crossing her arms over her chest.

"Couldn't sleep?" She looked up at him. She could barely see him, even his visor and armor was off, only a faint outline of him was presented with the light of the Med lab console softly glowing behind him.

"Not well, there's…too much on my mind." His voice was low and shaking as he spoke, she noticed his head dip slightly.

"Omega?" she said simply, knowing full well what he was talking about.

She just saw him nod and lean back in the chair, his head lifted slightly as he stretched his neck out to the side then back and forth. He only usually did that in his armor.

Nothing was said for a moment. "I know you don't want to talk about it Garrus, but if you need my help, you know you can come to me." She said simply, her voice flat, in commander tone.

Garrus looked to her for a moment regarding her in the dim light.

"Thanks, Shepard. I know." His voice gruff.

Shepard just nodded her head, and silence filled the air yet again. "So…" she sighed finally.

"Looks like it's going to get more familiar around here, we're picking up a Krogan from Tuchunka named Okeer. Heard of him?" Shepard's voice was lighter as she spoke looking up at Garrus.

Garrus shook his head slightly. "Not much, only that his reputation is so ruthless and fanatical that even his own people turned on him." He shrugged.

"Sounds perfect, I guess. If he joins the 'cause'." She held up her hands and made quote marks over her last word.

Garrus snorted a short laugh. "I'm sure you'll persuade him somehow, you're good at that."

"Not everyone can be persuaded…" Garrus heard the soft sad tone as her shoulders and head visibly shrunk. He knew whom she was referring too.

"Kaiden's an ass, he couldn't see through his own bullshit to accept what was really going on. It's not your fault." His voice was gruff again, a slightly pang of annoyance rattled in his throat.

Shepard shrugged. "What's done is done, there's not much I can change about it now." She sighed and rubbed her eyes leaning back in her chair her arms folded over her eyes.

"Why did it have to be Cerberus? Ugh…" She grunted and smirked laughing slightly.

"This just gets more and more complicated by the day." She chuckled throatily again.

Garrus watched her with regard for a moment. "Isn't it always. You said it yourself Shepard, it took Cerberus to realize what was going on, I'm not sanctioning their methods or their past, endeavors…but without them, we'd really be in the shit. We wouldn't have been able to get as far as we have to realizing the threat and if they hadn't brought you back…" he paused, noticed Shepard lifting her arm slightly to regard him.

"Well, you were on Ilos, I doubt the illusive man could have convinced anyone else to save the galaxy from the collectors or the reapers."

She smirked again at his words. "This is true." She said simply, yawning and stretching her arms again before sitting up right her arms resting on the table.

"Thanks Garrus." Her eyes closed as she spoke.

Garrus just nodded, his mandible fluttered slightly.

"You should try and get some rest, there's only two hours of down time left. We'll be at Tuchunka in four hours." Shepard spoke as she put the lid back on her ice cream.

"What about you Shepard, I'm starting to see some wear and tear." He spoke before she could stand.

At that moment the lights of the mess hall and lain battery flickered on. Shepard squinted away from the light and blinked frantically, adjusting to the invasion of bright lights and a soft hum of the bulbs.

She looked up to where Garrus sat, seeing he was completely bare from the neck down, she could only just see the band of his pants. _Thank God…_She thought.

She averted her eyes knowing his were on her. She smiled and played wit the spoon in her hands as she spoke.

"Wear and tear huh? That's ironic given that I was only made a couple months ago." She smirked. "We'll have to complain to the illusive man, about his faulty product." She jested.

Looking up at Garrus at that moment she saw him lean closer resting his forearms on the table. She couldn't stop her eyes from roaming his arms and shoulders, which of course led to his chest. She wasn't shocked; she had seen him this way before, in the shuttle bay armory when they stripped of their amour after a mission. But still, it caught her eye each time.

He just regarded her, waiting for a proper response. They kept eye contact for a while before Shepard sighed and looked away.

"Honestly, there's a lot riding on this mission, I just hope it's worth it." She looked up at Garrus to gage his reaction. He said nothing.

"I'm just glad I've got you here Garrus, I'm not sure I'd be handling this as well if I was here alone." She kept his gaze for a moment, until he was the first to break it.

"I wouldn't have it any other way Shepard." His voice soft and honest.

Shepard smiled and stretched again. "Well, people are going to be walking around soon, and I've still got dossiers to read." She stood and walked to the fridge freezer putting back the ice cream but taking the bottle of water with her.

She felt Garrus eyes on her back. She cursed herself realizing she was only wearing a tank top and skintight shorts that were more like underwear then clothing. She didn't let it show in her composure as she passed him and made her way to the elevator.

Garrus watched her leave; it wasn't unusual to see her in…that. She would wear it when sparing, training and under her amour. But it still caught him off guard every time to see so much of her fleshy skin that was hidden under so much armor.

He stood and stretched himself out before walking back to the main battery to occupy him for the next four hours, there was always calibrating to be done.

…

"This woman is PISSING me off!" Shepard yelled over the gunfire from the heavy mech, the Krogan spawn and the stupid bitch that was firing missiles at them.

Garrus got into cover to reload his rifle with fresh clips. "Pretty sure she's not here for your autograph Shepard!" Garrus called over the fire aiming the scope over the metal guard.

Shepard popped up out of cover thinking she had to reload, she instantly had to roll back into cover, and knocking Garrus slightly were he was crouched.

"Damn it! Who gave that bitch a missile launcher?!" Shepard went to switch weapons to her pistol.

"I don't think that's going to help much…" Garrus offered sarcastically.

"SOD THIS!" She rolled into another position and took out her own missile launcher waiting for her to reload she activated her cloak and ran to the other side of the tank room and fired two missiles at the witch watching as she fell to the ground gargling with her own blood.

She ran over to her and took her ammo before aiming for the heavy mech. Her cloak gave out for cool down.

"Shepard, watch out!" She could here Garrus' voice call over to her.

"SHIT!" She jumped and rolled into cover just as the mech saw her and starting firing in her direction.

Her teammates were distracted with Krogan just walking out of the test tubes. She kept her distance as the mech kept walking towards her. She waiting for the machine gun to stop, it was landing a missile, she took the chance to fire the rest of her ammo at it until the mech exploded.

Shepard ducked just in time for the explosion and swapped her gun for her assault rifle, pointing it in the Krogans direction. She was beaten to the punch when it fell to the ground with out her even pulling the trigger.

When the Krogan fell she saw Garrus with his rifle aimed in her direction, he stood up straight and holstered his weapon. She smirked his direction nodding her head.

An alarm went off loudly. "What the hell is going on now!?"

"Alarms from the lab, could be Okeer's doing, likely to distract whilst he gets away." Mordin offered walking out of cover.

"It seems the alarms are coming from the Lab Shepard." EDI's voice came over the comm.

Shepard just sighed and looked up at the window to where Okeer had been stood; only he wasn't there any more. Rushing to the stairs she saw his body laid at the foot of the console. They ran over, Shepard slammed her hand on the console to stop the alarms and a holo played of the Okeers confession.

"Damn…" she uttered before looking at the tank. Without looking at her teammates she rested her hands on her hips and sighed closing her eyes.

"Concerns?" She groaned.

Mordin was the first to speak up. "Created unnaturally, unsure what to expect, but Krogan naturally hostile anyway, suggest leaving it."

Shepard opened her eyes to look at Garrus. "Could be an asset or a time bomb, it's your call Shepard."

She sighed and put her fingers to her ear com. "Normandy, we need a pick up, we have a…heavy package."

…

Shepard was down in engineering standing in front of the Krogan tank, her finger tapped on her crossed arms over her abdomen. She heard the doors hiss open behind her. She didn't have to turn around to know who it was as they walked up and standing just next to her.

They stood in silence for a moment just looking at the tank. Shepard looked up at Garrus who was already looking down at her; he nodded at their unspoken conversation. Shepard uncrossed her arms and stepped forward opening the tank.

They watched as the fluid drained before the door opened; the krogan fell to the floor on his hands and knees and gargled, coughing up the tank water.

Shepard and Garrus took a step back; Garrus retreated to the back of the room whilst Shepard stood still waiting for the Krogan to gain his footing before approaching him.

He stood and blinked, adjusting his eyes before growling and lunging at the commander throwing her to the wall like a ragdoll pinning her with his arm across her chest.

Garrus aimed his gun at the Krogan, only the wave of Shepard's hand stopped him from firing.

"Human, female, before you die, I need a name." The Krogan grunted, his voice low and flanged.

"I'm commander Shepard, and I don't take threats lightly, I suggest you relax." She growled threateningly.

"Not your name, mine, Okeer couldn't plant connection, the words that echo in my head are meaningless. Legacy, Okeer, Grunt….Grunt…Grunt was one of the last, it has no meaning, it'll do. I am Grunt."

Garrus kept his gun on him. Grunt turned towards Garrus and sniffed the air.

"Turian, Male, you have the stank of pheromones on you, suggests you want to mate with this female."

Shepard's gaze snapped to Garrus for a nano second before looking back to Grunt.

Garrus cleared his throat but kept his eyes on the Krogan pinning Shepard to the wall.

"I have a strong group, a strong clan, you'd make it stronger." Shepard finally said.

"If your foes are weak, I'll have to kill you."

"Our enemies are worthy, there's no doubt about that." She rolled her eyes.

Grunt took her words in for a moment before grunting and finally speaking. "Hm, that is…acceptable. I will fight for you."

Shepard smirked. "I'm glad you saw reason."

Grunt looked down to see she had a pistol pointed at his stomach. He chuckled as pulled away.

"Off in one hand and armed in the other, wise Shepard, if I find what I'm looking for, a clan, I will gladly pit them against you in battle."

Garrus visibly relaxed and holstered his weapon.

Shepard twisted her shoulder and nodded to the Krogan before leaving the room, Garrus glanced back at the krogan, who had a dirty grin on his face whilst he chuckled throatily. The door hissed shut and Shepard allowed her self to swear.

"FUCK! That huurrrrrt!" She almost chuckled towards the end of her outburst.

"We should take you to Chakwas." Garrus said is hands out as if approaching a wounded animal.

"Nah, I'll be fine, just need to work it out, besides the pain reminds me I'm alive." She smirked and rolled her shoulder.

There was a dead silence between them; Garrus rubbed the back of his neck.

"So, whos next on the agenda?" Garrus asked as they started walking to the elevator.

"We're headed to purgatory to pick up a convict named Jack. He's apparently a powerful biotic. Not too keen on this dossier though, first a vigilantly, then a mad scientist, a baby Krogan and now a biotic god convict…" She threw her hands on the air as she finished.

Garrus smirked. "A very well-known vigilantly, with a bad-ass code name." He corrected.

Shepard just raised an eyebrow at him.

He shrugged and leant against the wall his arms crossed as the elevator went up.

There was yet another long silence.

"Sooo, pheromones huh?" Shepard's voice had a peak of smug in its tone. Trying to hide her smirk, as she looked elsewhere other then him.

Garrus cleared his throat and stretched his neck. "Yes, well, you can't expect a Krogan who hasn't even come into adolescence yet to know what pheromones are…he was…probably mistaking it for adrenaline." He stuttered slightly at his words, hoping she would buy them. _He_ wasn't even sure why the krogan could smell pheromones himself.

The doors opened to the Crew deck. "Keep telling yourself that Vakarien…" Shepard added smugly as he exited the elevator he turned to see her smirking before the doors closed.

"Damn her…" He grunted to himself, a small touch of amusement fluttered his mandibles. As he marched to the main battery to otherwise occupy himself.

…

Shepard got off on the CIC.

"Commander, you have a new message at your terminal." Kelly announced brightly from her console.

"Thank you Kelly." She wandered over to her console still rolling her shoulder.

"Something wrong commander?" Kelly all but leapt next to the commander.

"This is just my reward for awakening a test-tube Krogan baby…" She smirked and winced slightly as she stretched out her shoulder again.

"Here, let me help you with that!" Kelly stood behind the commander and started to rub the muscles. "Wow commander, you're very stiff, you should try to relax yourself more, you're wound as tight as a spring!"

Shepard winced slightly at her ministrations. "Uh, thanks Kelly…"

"No problem, you know I'm a qualified physician, I could come up to your cabin for, uh, personal sessions."

Shepard felt herself stiffen more then she was her mouth went dry. "I uh…"

"Commander!" Shepard looked up to see Joker waving her over. _Thank god…_she thought.

"Excuse me." Shepard tried her best not to sprint to make it obvious how fast she wanted to get away from her.

Walking down to the cockpit she made sure she was out of earshot of Kelly before exhaling heavily. She patted her hand on Jokers shoulder when she approached.

"Thanks Joker, I don't think you realized how much you saved me back there…" Shepard said relieved.

"Oh? From who, Kelly? Ahh, she a little to eager to get her hands on some bad-ass commander huh?" Joker chuckled towards the end.

"I don't think it's just my 'bass-ass' she wants to get her hands on…" Shepard remarked.

"Ha! Nice, that's an image that'll help me sleep at night!"

Shepard swatted him round the back of the head before leaning on the back of his chair.

"Hey! No hitting the cripple!" Joker winced.

"My ship, my flight attendant, my rules…" Shepard smirked. "So what's up, you wanted to talk to me?"

"Huh? Oh right, yeah just wanted to let you know that we'll be coming into the Purgatory station in just under an hour, aaaand also wondering if it's alright that I yank this AI out by it's wires?" Joker looked up at Shepard with hopeful puppy-dog eyes.

Shepard shook her head down at him. He mopped.

"No sabotaging the ship Joker…she's a part of the team so you might as well suck it up and make nice." She teased.

"So you're happy with this…thing aboard, giving us instruction and guidance like it runs the show?" Joker said bitterly.

"No, I'm not massively happy with it, but it's here, it helps, so just play nice. Besides, I feel better knowing you have a little girlfriend up here to keep you company." Shepard teased stating to walk away.

"If by girlfriend you mean nagging-pain-in-the-ass then yeah, I'm loving the relationship!" Joker called back to her.

Shepard shook her head as she walked back up the run way form the cockpit, she did her best to avoid rolling her shoulder making sure Kelly didn't feel the need to touch her again.

"I'll take my messages up in my cabin, thanks Kelly." Shepard said quickly before hopping into the elevator.

Sagging against the furthest wall more than happy with her direct evasion of Kelly's frisky hands…the thought made her shiver.

…

"Commander, we're about to dock at the Purgatory Station." Joker bellowed over the comm.

"Thanks Joker, let Garrus and Grunt know to suit up and meet me in the airlock." Shepard ordered as she got up from her desk setting her pencil down and reaching for her locker to suit up.

"Got it commander." Joker confirmed before the comm channel went dead.

She got into the elevator and leant up against the far wall her arms crossed over her abdomen. Her eyes were closed, concentrating on what to expect from this. From what she read in the dossier; the men aboard were more then willing to hand Jack over with no fuss as long as they got their money of course…She sighed hoping this would go smoothly.

"Ha! Like it ever goes smoothly..." She chuckled to herself.

The elevator doors opened to a tall standing Turian waiting just outside. Shepard looked up, the smile in her face only deepened before looking down again.

Garrus cleared his throat before entering. "Do I want to know what's so funny?" He offered raising a brow plate at her humored state.

"Oh nothing, I was just thinking of how much trouble we used to get into…still get into. Nothing is ever straight forward, and I can only imagine this one isn't going to be any different." She smirked, her green eyes focused on the floor.

"Um, pleasant thoughts then?" He teased.

"Nothing is more pleasant then getting into trouble with you Garrus…" Shepard offered leaning her head back until it softly hit the wall.

"Though the elevator is no faster…I guess that's one thing that hasn't changed." Shepard smirked.

"You feel like a lot has changed?" Garrus asked curious looking at her stretched neck for a moment before looking at her eyes as she spoke.

"Wouldn't you if you had been dead for two years?" Shepard's eyes flickered over to him then.

"I wouldn't know…though I guess the last two years have been more of a blur to me." He fell silent for a moment.

"Do you feel that I have changed?" Garrus asked looking at her intently. "Do you feel, we've changed…?" He added softly.

Shepard looked down for a moment a smile stretched her lips slightly. She lifted her head to look at him and opened her mouth to speak but stopped when the elevator doors suddenly opened.

"Huh, guess it's not as slow as I thought…" Shepard remarked casually.

"No, it's just badly timed." Garrus offered stretching out a hand to offer her out the elevator first.

Shepard chuckled slightly shaking her head; she could see their new member stood awkwardly by the airlock door.

"Grunt, you ready? I thought this pick up might be best to start you out on, since you've only been awake for about an hour." Shepard led as they walked into the airlock.

"Ready for anything Shepard, I've got a feeling they'll be more to this then you're letting on." Grunt grumbled form behind her.

"He catches on quick…" Garrus commented.

Shepard smirked. "I'm not exactly hoping for confrontation, but it's likely…that's why we're armed!" She chimed towards the end patting her pistol on her hip.

"And by armed you mean taking a Krogan shaped battling-ram?" Garrus teased.

"Exactly! I want to try out my shiny new toy!" Shepard chimed proudly.

"I'm not your toy Shepard…" Grunt grumbled un-amused.

"No Grunt, you're my '_shiny'_ new toy!" Shepard smirked, before leaping onto the shuttle ready to go.

…

**Sooooo yeah! Let me know if you think this is worth continuing, we're here to please you guys! 3 **

**Thanks for reading! 3**


	2. Chapter 2

**Thanks to Appabend, I decided to continue this fanfic. Thanks again for your wonderful review! Means a lot to me to hear from your guys! x**

**I want to warn people...THERE WILL BE MISTAKES! XD I'm not perfect, I will eventually get a beta reader, but until then please endure. I have read through it myself over and over, but I will have missed a few things! **

**This is a Garrus and FemShep Fanfic, with all the bad-ass characters along for the ride. I really hope you enjoy! **

**I am not the creator, just the puppet master of the ME stuffs in the fanfic.**

**REVIEWS = LOOOOOVE! x ^^ **

**ENJOY!**

**...**

"Welcome to Purgatory, Shepard. Your package is being prepped, and you can claim it shortly." A Turian Prison Guard approached Shepard and her team as they boarded.

"Well, straight to the point then…no tea? Cake? Bummer..." Shepard mocked under her breath walking up the runway. They paused when they reached the entrance, which was noticeably highly guarded.

"As this is a high-security vessel, you'll need to relinquish your weapons before we proceed." The Turian Guard continued.

Shepard raised her finger, with a smile on her face she opened her mouth, giving the guard false hope that she would comply.

"Uh…no." Her brow knitted but the grin darkened. "Like my team, my guns stay with me." She continued.

The Prison guard lifted their guns, pointing them at in their direction. "This is not a request…" The Guard said firmly eyeing them down.

"And this is not up for discussion." Shepard said placing her hand on her holstered pistol at her hip.

She could almost feel their fingers crunching down on their triggers when the doors behind slid open. Cutting the deadly tension.

"Everyone stand down!" A barefaced Turian appeared from behind the guards.

Shepard smirked watching as the guards lowered their weapons and stood straight.

"That's right listen to Daddy…" She said smugly under her breath. Though knowing full well of the superior Turian hearing.

"Commander, I'm Warden Kuril, and this is my ship. Your weapons will be returned to you on your leave. This is merely standard procedure." The Warden continued.

Shepard just smirked. "You're absolutely right, take the guns away from a Solo Vigilantly and Biotic Goddess and a Hormonal Krogan. Not sure you thought this through there, pal." Shepard said smugly, crossing her arms over her abdomen. Grunt gave off a feral growl just add a little more threat to her words.

The Warden stared Shepard down before his facial expression relaxed.

"Let them proceed. Our facility is more than capable to handle three armed…guests." He put a lazy emphasis on the words guest. Emphasis Shepard didn't like.

"Charming…" Shepard grunted. She felt Garrus nudge her slightly; she rolled her eyes and straightened up.

"We're bringing Jack out of cryo. As soon as the funds have cleared, you can be on your way." He tone flanged with a hasty threat of 'get the hell of my ship'.

"Not enjoying this…" Shepard grunted again. Garrus shook his head in the background; she really didn't know when to shut up.

"If you'll follow me to Out-processing for the pickup, Commander." The way he said her name made her teeth grind…whether it was just the translator making his voice sound ominous, she didn't trust this guy at all.

With ease Shepard and her team followed suit behind the Warden, two guards following in behind them. Garrus and Shepard shared a knowing glance as if they could read each other's minds.

Garrus nodded. **_"You know this could very well be a…"_**

Shepard raised an eyebrow. **_"Trap? Way ahead of you, these guys are far too relaxed…probably don't even remember how to use a gun."_**

Garrus shrugged.**_ "So either way we have the upper hand here. Not to mention we have an emotionally unstable Krogan on our side…"_** Garrus' gaze fell onto Grunt as the walked between cells.

Shepard smirked. **_"You read my mind…" _**Their thoughts were interrupted when the Warden started speaking once again.

"Cellblock two. As you can see, we keep tight control of the population."

Shepard pulled an un-amused face at Garrus.**_ "Here he goes again…"_** They both thought simultaneously.

**_"_****_Can I go home yet?"_** Shepard whined to herself.

"Each prisoner's cell is self-contained, modular unit. I've blown a few out of the airlock as an example." The Warden continued.

That caught Shepard's attention. She scowled up at the Warden and followed his gaze out of the windows to the cellblock. She could see what he was so smugly grinning about. Two prisoners were fighting it out in the cell court; a stasis device activated separating the two, keeping them adrift from the ground.

**_"_****_Well at least it's humane…"_** She thought to herself.

"The ship is made up of 30 cellblocks identical to this one – we house thousands of criminals." The warden stopped at a security door, turning around to regard the team.

"We can put the whole place in lockdown at a moment's notice…" He folded his arms over his chest.

Shepard didn't like the way this guy was talking, almost as if he was bragging or threatening, she wasn't sure which.

"Let me guess…nothing goes wrong here?" Grunt suddenly spoke up. Shepard surprised turned to look at him, her brow raised.

"Exactly." The Warden confirmed.

"What can you tell me about Jack?" Shepard said folding her arm across her abdomen as they stopped.

The warden gave her a dark smirk, teeth and all before responding. "Cerberus hasn't told you? Jack is the meanest handful of violence and hate I've ever encountered."

He made a step closer to Shepard, his posture tall as he glared down at her. "Dangerous, crazy, and very powerful. You'll see soon enough…" His tone darkened.

Garrus stepped closer in behind Shepard, giving off a thrill of back off with a flick of a mandible. The Warden noticed and stepped back with a small chuckle.

Shepard frowned unsure what he found so funny…

"Maintaining a population this size in space can't be cheap." Shepard finally said looking out of the window to the few that were in the block down by her feet.

"We can cut corners that governments can't. And each prisoner brings in a fee from his homeworld." The bareface explained.

"These individuals are violent, and their home planets pay well to keep them here." He continued.

Shepard frowned. "I see…"

"Extortion racket, their homeworld doesn't pay up, you release the prisoner back on their homeworld and a unspecified place and time. Am I right?" Garrus finished for her.

"You don't have to agree with my methods, but don't question my motives." The Warden threatened.

The two Turians glared each other down until Shepard sighed heavily. "Let's just get this over with."

The Warden nodded. "As you wish. I'm going to confirm that the funds from Cerberus cleared. Outprocessing is straight down this hallway." He made a move past Shepard and Garrus, his shoulder coming into contact with his as he did.

Once he was out of earshot Shepard groaned. "Charming fellow isn't he?"

"I want o rip the plate off of his face…" Grunt said simply.

Shepard just smiled up at him. "You're such a good boy Grunt." She chirped patting his back.

"Don't push it Shepard." Grunt grumbled.

"Come on, maybe they have tea in the Outprocessing. I'm parched!" Shepard put on a sudden English accent at the end of her sentence before strolling through the door into the next area.

Garrus' mandibles fluttered in a smile whilst shaking his head. Following into suit behind the Commander.

As they rounded the corner, they came across another cell; a Turian Guard was standing by watching through the glass. Shepard followed his gaze to another Turian guard pummeling a defenseless human prisoner with his fists.

Garrus only saw it for a second before he looked to Shepard's face. It was hidden behind a curtain of her short brown hair but he could plainly see her teeth clenched behind her lips.

"Uh oh…" Garrus said stepping back.

Grunt looked between Shepard and Garrus. "What?" He shrugged.

"Just step back for a bit…" Garrus said putting a hand on his shoulder and drawing him away from Shepard's side.

After what felt like eternity the commander finally lifted her head. Her face lit up with a wide grin.

"She looks normal…" Grunt said confused.

Garrus shook his head. "Ho-oh, don't be fooled."

They watched as she tool a step closer to the Turian guard's side. "Sooo~ What-we watchin'?" she chirped. The guard jumped slightly not feeling anymore at ease with the grin on her face.

"Er-uh, information gathering." He stuttered.

"I see! Orders I assume?" Shepard rang again seeming warm.

"Uh-yeah…I suppose so." The guard said awkwardly feeling uneasy just by standing next to her, he looked away and kept his eye on the show in the cell.

"Let me ask you? If you were ordered to throw yourself out of the airlock, would you do it?" She continued.

"Wh-what? N-no Ma'am."

"Because it would endanger your own life right? So if someone orders you to beat the shit out of a defenseless prisoner for information. Wouldn't that endanger your spirit?" She continued not looking up at him.

"M-my spirit?" His voice was lighter, as if he had never thought about it.

Shepard knew the importance of a Turian spirit; they weren't that different from any other religion. They valued what happened to their soul or spirit after they died, most did anyway.

"You can't be looking at a very nice place in your afterlife if you can't even see that something like this is wrong." Shepard continued.

The Turian cleared his throat and tapped on the glass. "Hey! Cut it out! We've got enough." He stuttered.

Shepard grinned and patted the guy on the back. "Good on you! You may get fired, but at least you'll live another day! Scales and all!" She chirped walking away.

"Live another…day!?" He exclaimed. When he turned he could see her walking off towards the Outprocessing with a small skip in her step. The guards at the doors didn't dawdle to get the door open and let her through without question.

Garrus and Grunt were stood there for a moment before grunt spoke first.

"That woman makes my quad shiver…" Grunt grumbled before following in behind her.

Garrus felt his stomach turn. "Gross…" He shivered before following them both into what looked like a large cafeteria.

"Um…this, is not Outprocessing." Shepard thought out loud before one of the guards approached.

"Just make you're way through to the other side of the cafeteria and down the hall." He explained.

Shepard sighed. "I'm not going to get any tea am I?" She whined before heading to the door on the other side of the large room.

She heard the door they had just come through hiss open and shut as the last guard left the room. Her brow knitted, something didn't feel right. She focused on the green panel of the door they were approaching; and sure enough it turned red.

"AH-HA! I KNEW IT!" She almost cheered happily.

"You shouldn't sound so proud of walking into a trap, knowing it was a trap, Shepard." Garrus groaned pulling out his rifle.

"No, but I'm hyped that I was right!" She argued getting into cover behind some of the tables.

"I'm with Shepard, this was getting boring anyway!" Grunt growled approvingly.

"Yeah! What he said!" Shepard encouraged.

Garrus shook his head when the Warden's voice sounded over the comm channel.

"My apologies, Shepard. But you're more valuable as a prisoner than a customer." His voice was so smug it sickened her.

"Ha! I bet I am! What is it now? 50 million?" She cheered.

"Drop your weapons and proceed into this open cell. You will not be harmed." The voice continued.

Shepard and the other looked over to the door that had now just opened with a cell room on the other side of it.

"Really? It's like they've never done this before…" Garrus mocked.

"Fat chance!" Shepard laughed.

"Activate systems!" the Wardens voice ordered over the comm.

"Sooo~ Breaking out of prison…not one of the things I had on my list of tings-to-do-today." Shepard said cocking her gun and aiming it over the table.

"Guards in-bound at the far door!" Grunt growled firing his shotgun at the few guard coming through the doors.

Shepard lined up a shot in her sniper rifle her finger squeezed on the trigger when something blocked her view and came sprinting in slow-motion around the corner.

"Oh. My. God." She gushed.

"What!? What is it? A heavy mech?" Garrus started to look around frantically through the gunfire.

"No it's…the cutest thing I've ever seen!" Shepard all but squeed at the sight of the mech dog that was trotting it's way over to them. She watched in amazement, until Grunt disabled it with his shotgun.

"Scratch one!" Garrus called.

Snapping herself out of it, she lined up another shot, taking one of the guards down with one shot to the head. She crouched back into cover and hit Grunt on his shoulder.

"You big meany what-cha do that for!?" She scolded.

Grunt just shrugged looking at her in shock. "What!?"

"You're grounded…for the next mission anyway." She scorned loading her rifle back up.

"What'd I do?" Grunt looked confused at Garrus who in turn just shrugged.

"Beats me." Garrus said before noticing the gunfire had stopped. "It's clear Shepard."

"Alright let's move!" Shepard lead the team out of the large cafeteria and down the hall.

"She must still be in out-processing. They wouldn't have had time to get her back in her cell." Garrus pointed out trying to bypass the door.

"Let's hope so, I don't want to have to search this game show of a prison for her…" Shepard retorted.

Once the door was open they came an observation room, looking down through the window they would see a single cell in the Centre of the room. Garrus worked his magic on the console and brought the cell up.

"It's a stasis pod…" Garrus' voice sounded stunned.

"Well that's tells us something." Shepard replied her hand hovering over the button to release the so-called-monster.

Garrus grabbed her wrist for a moment. "Wait! Shepard, you press that and every prisoner in this hell-hole will be released."

Shepard hesitated. "And…?"

Star-struck, he backed away slightly. "And they'd be running around with access to guns, Shepard!"

Shepard looked up at him then. "And…?"

He was starting to feel slightly annoyed that she wasn't seeing the consequences here.

"And, either we or they will have to shoot them down!"

"Garrus, we shoot people all the time-get to a point here!" Shepard blurted.

"Shepard, we can't just-"

"We need this guy! What do you want me to do? Save the galaxy or a bunch of criminals who probably deserve to die!" Shepard argued.

Looking down at her, he felt a knot tighten in his lower abdomen, just looking into though fierce green eyes.

It took him a moment to regain control of himself, swallowing to moisten his suddenly dry throat. He nodded.

Shepard looked back to the button and pressed it.

…

**I know it's a little short, forgive me, but I am still in the process of moving so I'm getting in snip-its at work (I'm so bad!) Anyway! I hope you all enjoyed, please keep me informed if you think it's worth continuing! ^^**

**Thanks for reading! 3**


	3. Chapter 3

They watched in silence as the cryo gas that kept the prisoner asleep erupted from the newly opened cell filling the room. When it started to clear it revealed a human female chained around her neck, wrists and legs to the pod.

After what felt like an eternity, Grunt was the first to speak up.

"So, that's Jack huh?" Grunt grumbled.

"The dangerous-crazy-powerful-shit-scary-criminal…is a half-naked-bold-human, covering in tattoos?" She paused to soak it in. "I feel like I'm in a slapstick comedy." Shepard mocked, her face un-amused.

Garrus noticed the female's hands start to move and her eyes started to blink open. "Uh, Shepard…" Garrus stuttered slightly stepping away from the glass.

Shepard watched the Biotic woman wriggled free of her restraints, concentrating her blue energy to burst out of them. As soon as she landed on the ground, two heavy mechs entered the cell.

"Oh great! Hey! Don't touch my stuff!" Shepard yelled through the glass pounding on it.

Jack conjured a wave of biotic energy and threw it at the mechs before launching for one and tearing it's head off with her bare beautifully glowing hands.

Shepard watched bemused before Jack disappeared into the new opening she had made with the corpse of the fellow mech.

"Well, I'm impressed. Guess we'd better go help her." Shepard shrugged before heading for the exit towards the main cell units.

The alarms were sounding over the sound of an automated female voice repeating. "Security breached. Security breached."

Shepard and her team followed the trail of destruction left behind the blazing Biotic as she ran ahead.

"Thankfully she can't get far...unless…" Shepard paused as they were running down the red blinking hall.

"Unless she takes over our ship with a biotic sneeze?" Garrus finished her sentence with a measure of humor in his tone, noticing her pace picked up and followed suit.

"Some thoughts are better left unsaid Garrus…" She grunted as they came to an opening in the wall, sheared metal still beating with a biotic glow.

Though her attention was struck elsewhere as the familiar sound of a 'problem' echoed from across the large open room.

"ONLINE!"

"OH-FOR-FU-" Shepard rolled into cover narrowly evading a missile before activating her cloak.

Whipping out her sniper she aimed steadily at the heavy mech's head and fired, it took down it's armour just in time for Grunt to throw a grenade and take the bugger down.

"Woo-hoo!" Shepard cried out as she throw a fist in the air, her cloak dissipating to re-charge.

"I've got the target!" One of the guards called from behind some of the barricades.

Shepard barely had time to react before she was bombarded from the side and thrust to the floor into some cover on the bridge.

She grunted, looking up to see Garrus' face hovering over hers, opening her mouth to say something clever before he beat her to the punch.

"Celebrate later, we've still got guards to clear!" He called over the sound of gunfire before crouching off of her and cocking his rifle.

Shepard popped up with ease and smirked in his direction as her visor pinged over her left eye.

"We're going to talk about you battle-ramming your commander later Garrus." She teased before aiming from her cover to take down the last of the guards.

Grunt growled from below...almost from the other side of the room… Shepard cocked her brow as she stood from cover.

"You know for a turtle, he's surprisingly fast…" Her voice full of humour, yet a genuinely surprised look on her face.

Grunt scowled up at her. "You Pyjaks done kissing up there! The crazy female is getting away!"

Shepard and Garrus shared a glance before they darted over to Grunt and followed the trail of mass destruction through the levels of the prison.

They peggd it to the room that lead to the docking bay, Shepard ducked as a bullet flew past her head, all three of them crouching into cover.

"Shit! I'm so sick of dodging bullets...remind me to ask the Illusive man for an upgrade...I want bullet proof skin…" She grumbled before leaning out of cover, only to pop back in as she was fired at.

"Damn you Shepard! I could have sold you and lived like a king!" Warden Kuril bellowed from his little fort in the far corner of the room.

"But your too much trouble!" He continued, firing recklessly at her cover.

"Aww, I'm so sorry to be such an INCONVENIENCE FOR YOU!" shepard cried out from her cover her face turning that shade of red that Garrus knew meant...she was beyond pissed.

"At least I can recapture Jack and get rid of you!" The Warden bellowed before activating a shield generator.

Shepard popped out of cover hearing a pause in his fire and aimed her rifle at his position, only to see a blue field bubble around him.

Her body slumped and let her rifle drop in her hand as her mouth fell open. "Oh come on! That's just unfair!"

She heard heavy footsteps and guards started to flood into the room, activating her cloak, she dove into cover and started to aim for the generators that fed the field.

"Take those generators down! I can't get a clear shot!" She called to the others as she focused her fire to clear out some of the guards.

Garrus fired a concussive round taking one of the generators out whilst Grunt just charged the other firing everything he had at it.

But it worked, the shield dissipated and Shepard was in position to fire, aiming her rifle she pulled the trigger but heard and empty click.

"God-dammit!" Holstering her rifle she pulled out her missile launcher, seeing she only had one left since her mission on tuchanka…

"Balls…" She groaned.

"Do you really think you can stop me Shepard! If not me! Then someone else will just continue my work!" The Warden started to rant again, Shepard waiting for the right time to shoot...whilst making a mimic mouth with her hand as he continued to spew his nonsense.

"I do the dirty work that no-one else bothers to do! I do it for the good of the Galaxy!"

She popped out of cover when she heard a pause, seeing him reload his clip, she aimed the missile.

"You poor deluded creature." She mumbled to herself before firing the missile, watching as it hit him square in the chest.

Everytime she killed someone, it seemed to happen in slow motion, taking in the details… their expression, the way their bodies are thrown from the shot like a ragdoll. It created a small pit in her gut that made her hope each time was the last.

There was a thud of his armour hitting the floor, before the whirring sound of the alarms flooded past the calm of the kill that muted her mind.

"Shepard! She's getting away, let's go!" Garrus called from the exit to the docking hangar.

She started after them, finally reaching the bay the Normandy was docked at, seeing the illuminated psycho pacing in the runway.

Jack grunted, fuming, raging, tossing and turning as if something had crawled inside her head. Until her attention turned to the three armed figures standing close enough for her to flay them alive with a snap of her wrist.

"Who are you? What do you want?!" She hissed.

"I'm Commander Shepard, I'm here to recruit you for a suicidal mission-" Shepard started hearing Garrus mumbling behind her.

"Probably shouldn't start with...suicidal mission, Shepard."

"Shit, you sound like a pussy!" Jack snapped.

"Charming…" Shepard said flatly, cocking a brow.

"You're with Cerberus, I'm not going anywhere with you!"

Shepard crossed her arms and cocked her hip. "Listen, you've got two choices. Stay here with nowhere to go. Or, jump on the only ship docked here and we'll get you some clothes." She smirked.

Jack scowled, her skin glowing with a biotic readiness. Garrus was feeling slightly anxious about Shepard rattling this one's cage…

"You want me on that ship, you gotta do something for me." She hissed.

Shepard just nodded.

"You work with Cerberus, I want access to their files and go through everything have on me. You hear me, everything!"

Shepard kept her cool even whilst she was being pointed and hissed at. "No problem."

"You better to straight with me."

Shepard just started for the hatch without another word, this one was going to be fun to be around…

Garrus came up to Shepard's side clearing his throat. "So - Shepard, missile to the chest? Was that really necessary?"

Shepard just cocked a brow at him. "I ran out of ammo…" She shrugged punching the airlock panel to open the door.

Grunt just chuckled throatily.

"Heh-heh...That was fun! When do I get one of those?" Grunt roared, bouncing and thrusting his fist into his palm.

Garrus and Shepard shared a glance before simultaneously answering.

"When you're older."

…

Shepard groggily walked out of the com room after dealing with Miranda and Jack, rubbing her temples as she walked into the Labs.

"Ah-Shepard!" Shepard almost winced at the sound of someone needing her attention. But it was Mordin and she rather liked talking to him.

Her head snapped up with a welcoming smile that clouded the pain on her face, feeling her brain fall apart like wet cake…

"Mordin, how can I help you?" She chirped walking over to his desk.

"Hmm, eyes not fully open, pupils dilated, skin red from constant rubbing on temples, signs of possible migraine or headache - suggest taking this." Mordin walked over handing her a pill in one hand whilst the other was behind his back.

"That obvious huh…?" Shepard shrugged and took the pill without arguing, knocking her head back to let it slide down her throat.

"Probably should've asked if it - OW! Hey!" She winced feeling a pinch in her forearm where he was holding a needle injector.

When he pulled it away, she rubbed her arm. "Wha-Why-GAH! Mordin that stings like a bi-"

"Pill just distraction to inject suitable pain relief for side effects." Mordin explained with a proud smirk.

"A distraction? So...what was the pill?" She grumbled still rubbing her arm, though not admitting her head felt better already…

"Food supplement pill - no side effects." He nodded.

Shepard rolled her eyes, her face a little more relaxed due to the horrid ache behind her skull wearing off.

"Did you want to talk to me, or did you just call me over to stab me?" she grumbled.

"Wanted to speak with you - wanted input for possible research that could help Turian and Human physiology."

"Oh? Alright, what do you need me to do?" Her voice slightly reluctant.

"Would appreciate - if you logged your - ahem - sexual experience with Turian co-worker."

Before Shepard could even react, Mordin continued.

"Turian and Human have similar stress relief remedies - would be useful for future possible pairings that need medical advice."

Shepard didn't realise her mouth was hung open and her eyes were dry from not blinking until he'd finished his rant.

Her eye twitched slightly before taking a shaky breathe. "Mordin, thank you for your interest. However - I think you've been slightly misinformed about...whatever it is you're suggesting." Her lips pressed into a thin line and her eyes wide as she tried to get her point across as pleasantly as possible without her biotics fluctuating.

Mordin raised his hands. "No mistake Shepard - have been taking readings whilst both are conversing with each other. Clear signs. Mandibles fluttering, pupils dilating, heart rate increasing, erogenous zones heating - " Modin was cut off when Shepard put her hand over his mouth.

"Y-you did not...just say that." Shepard exhaled trying to keep calm.

"I-I need...tea...do you want some tea? I want some tea, let's go get some tea." Shepard withdrew herself from him as she hurried her way out of the labs and towards the elevator, she needed Tea and a cold shower.

She noticed Chambers trying to catch her attention but just smiled and waved as she repeatedly pressed the button for the elevator.

_**Shit-shit-shit-come-on-come-on-come-on!** _She chanted to herself before hearing the sweet sound of the elevator doors pinging open and backing herself into it, still waving and smiling at Chambers ignoring her questions about her mental well being.

She sighed heavily as the doors closed and rubbed the bridge of her nose.

"Aw-man…" she groaned.

"Rough day, Shepard."

"GAH!" Shepard bounced turning to see Garrus stood behind her, leaning against the back wall of the elevator.

"Wha-Garrus? What are you - I mean were you in engineering?" She stuttered, taking a couple steps back until she was leaning against the doors.

"Yeah, Donnelly wanted to see me about some alterations I made to the main gun's power systems. You ok? You look like you've had a rough couple of hours." Garrus's eyes evaluating her, his visor reading her like a book.

"I'm fine, Mordin just - gave me something for a headache...then made it worse." She smiled awkwardly.

Garrus' brow plates rose. "Do I want to know?"

"No."

There was a small moment of silence, almost as if reading each other's minds, Garrus felt he may have known what Mordin had spoken to her about...since only a couple night cycles ago, he had asked him the same thing. Garrus cleared his throat.

"Tea?"

"Yes! Please!" She moaned pleasantly.

That sound - the same strange moan she made when she ate ice-cream. Must be a Human thing…

The elevator stopped, Shepard stumbled a little as the doors opened but was caught off guard when Garrus softly grabbed her wrist and tugged her back to alignment.

"I may need something stronger than tea…" She grumbled, slightly embarrassed.

"A sedative?" Garrus teased, raising a brow late.

Shepard looked flatly at him. "Hmm...something in between tea and a sedative…that doesn't end with me in the med-bay."

"I know just the thing." Garrus smirked letting her wrist go with some confusing reluctance before heading for the lounge, Shepard following intrigued behind him.

They entered the lounge and to Shepards surprise, Garrus went behind the bar and started grabbing bottles.

She sat at the bar on the other side, watching silently as he picked up a mixer and started to talently pour colorful liquids, along with some ice - into the mixer before shaking.

Shepard smirked. "There's a story behind how you handle your bottles Garrus." she teased.

Garrus rose his brow plate analysing her before chuckling shortly in his throat. "Not really, I used to help out at a bar back on the citadel - in return I got free drinks." His mandibles fluttering gleefully at the memory.

"Uh huh. Totally not because you were a C-Sec officer who could shut them down or give a bad review?" She leant her elbows in the bar and her chin on her palm.

"Heh - I'll have you know I was actually very good at it...and who cares - I got drunk for free." Garrus rumbled gleefully.

Shepard watched as he poured the one he was mixing into her drink, before he started on a different one for him.

Her eyes were drawn to the soft blue liquid in her glass, before her eyes darted - watching a purple liquid poured skillfully into his own.

She went to reach for it, but was batted away by a gloved hand.

"Hey!"

"Not yet." He said softly before taking out an orange and cutting a thin slice of peel and hovering it over the glass before holding something else to the peel.

There was a soft click and a flame appear and the lighter ignited at he stroked the flame against the peel, softening it, watching it bubble slightly before he squeezed. The juice set alight as it hit the alcohol before he dropped the peel in her glass.

His talons pushed the glass towards her and leant on the bar his eyes on her as he nodded.

"Now you can drink it."

Shepard rose her brow at him cautiously lifting the glass and watching the orange peel sizzle in the bubbly alcohol.

"This better not have me end up in my quarters unconscious...I know how you work Vakarian."

"Just shut up and drink it." He grumbled.

Lifting the glass to her red lips she took a small sip - her pupils dilated under her hooded lids and before she knew it, it was gone.

Licking the alcohol gloss from her top lip, she placed the empty glass down and sighed heavily.

"Now that's - an orgasm in a glass…" She chuckled, watching Garrus' mandibles flare.

"And that's probably the best compliment I've received." He mumbled picking up his own glass.

"Cheers." He grunted before downing it in one and shaking his head slightly.

"Ah- Well the foods not amazing on this ship, but the drink is good at least. I didn't even have to improvise…" He mumbled softly, examining his empty glass.

"Yeah, remind me to pick up some food supplies when we go back to the Citadel." She sighed, feeling better already.

"So, who's next on the 'Galaxy's-Nut-Jobs' list." Garrus asked picking up bottle to mix another drink.

Shepard leaned on her palm, her other hand slowly running the pad of her finger tip along the rim of the glass.

"Let's see, we've got the invisible-thief on Citadel, that shouldn't take too long. After that, it's off to Illium to recruit the Assassin and the Justicar." She explained casually, watching Garrus's hands as he poured the alcohol into the mixer before shaking it.

"Still hoping Tali will join when she's done with her super secret mission. It would be nice to have more familiar faces around." Her smile faded slightly, the still fresh memory of Kaiden on Horizon sent a harsh sting in her chest.

Garrus' eyes glanced to her as he poured her another drink, he remembered the moment on Horizon when Kaiden practically tore their loyalty and friendship into shreds because if his ignorance.

He did the same again, squeezing the peel to set the juice alight before dropping it in the red alcohol.

He pushed the glass to her and leaned on the bar, his mandible fluttering in the momentary silence they sat in - unsure what to say to comfort her.

"So, what do you call this drink then, I don't think I've had it before." Shepard finally broke the silence leaning on the bar, her face not far from Garrus'.

"Oh uh…" Garrus looked down at the drink he'd poured her and cocked his head to the side.

"I actually kinda just made it up." He stuttered, looking into the blue liquid watching the orange peel sizzle.

"What about, a Paragon." He said softly.

Shepard chuckled throatily and smiled warmly. "Hmm...I love it."

Garrus' mandibles fluttered at the word she used, it wasn't something turians used to describe things, at least not lightly.

"Garrus listen. I just want to say thanks - Even knowing that I've had to team up with Cerberus...against my will...literally. You're still here." Shepard slid a subtle hand and cupped his around his glass - her eyes up at him in the soft glow of the bar lights.

Garrus could have sworn his plates just shivered, he cleared his throat and slid his hand from her lifting his glass.

"Uh - to just like old times." He stuttered slightly, seeing the nano second of hurt in her face dissipate as she lifted her glass to clink with his.

"I'll drink to that." She said softly before downing her drink.

"Well, I'd better go. I wanna be prepared when we meet the rest of this 'team'." She quote-marked before standing from the bar stool.

"Thanks for the drinks Garrus, we'll have to do this again soon." She said softly heading for the door.

"Anytime, Shepard." Garrus nodded casually.

"I'll hold you to it." She said softly before the doors slid closed behind her.

Garrus stood still, looking down at the empty glass with the orange peel at the bottom and her lipstick on the rim, hanging his head for what felt like hours.

He could still smell her, hear her… he couldn't understand it, this strange clenching under his carapace. He sighed heavily.

"Oooh you're in trouble Vakarian...big trouble."


End file.
